Summary of Site: This site is a learning network for kids where they have an ample amount of educational games that are both helpful and fun for the student. Along with Language Arts, they include games and activities that incorporate geography, biology, chemistry, math, memory skill practices, etc. It also offers free online classes for kids. The founder of the KidsKnowIt Network explains it with, "Learning was meant to be both fun and free. Not boring, and definitely not expensive." Summary of Game: For primary Language Arts, I have chosen the game "Scramblers", where there is a 3-4 letter word that is scrambled in the box. By double-clicking the letters in the lower box, you much spell out and unscramble the chosen word in the given amount of time.Color: The color schemes in this game are appealing to children, where the backround is a bright yellow, and the game itself is blue, yellow and pink. The "scrambler" letters are all shades of brown. Repetition: The letters that are presented are repeated a number of times in order for the child to get a good chance at unscrambling the word. However, the pace of the repeated letters varies with each level. Talking Text: The letters make a sound effect every time one comes up, also on the main page, each game that is chosen has talking text which says the name of each game. Visual Cues: The letters appear each one by one, each popping up with a bug in front of it showing that there is a new letter. The student must double click each letter that they would like to put in order to unscramble. Mistakes: If the student has spelled the scrambled words wrong after submitting them into each box, at the end of the game, they encourage the child to try again by telling them they have done a good job, but have let the scramblers out. Rating: N/AHighlighted Cues: N/ANavigation Routine: There are instructions on how to play at the start of the game, and a "play" button next to that. Click back and back: N/AClick and drag: N/ARating: 7
Summary of Site: This site includes plenty of fun games for children, categorized by the Flash Arcades, Web Books and Comics, movies, and other activites. Summary of Game: The game I chose was Grammar Gorillas. where the student must identify which part of speech the underlined word is. The beginner level is only nouns and verbs, where the advanced level is all parts of speech. Also, there are definitions of all the parts of speech under the activity. Color: The only colors included in this game are the blue words and the red underlined words. Repetition: The same routine occurs everytime the student clicks the correct word. Talking Text: There is no talking text in this game. Visual Cues: The words that are choices for the verb/noun are bolded, red and underlined, where the rest of the words are blue. Mistakes: If the child clicks on the incorrect word, at the top of the page it will say "Sorry!" and explain why the answer was wrong and what the correct answer is.Rating: N/AHighlighted Cues: There are no highlighted cues. Navigation Routine: The only routine is to click the correct underlined word. Click back and back: If the child needs to go back, they can either click the back button, the start over button, or the funbrain feature. Click and drag: There is no dragging necessary.Rating: 8
Site: Scholastic.comURL:http://www.missmaggie.org/scholastic/fishemup2_eng_launcher.htmlSummary of Site: This is a great website with plenty of resources for students, teachers and parents. It also includes several lists of books categorized by their subject and grade-appropriate level, most of them with the choice of listening. Along with the reading choices and games, they also offer writer's workshop and fire safety programs. Summary of Game:In the fish tank, there are two fishing rods, along with two words, each with the ending of "ed". One of them is incorrect and the other is the correct answer which matches the floating word at the bottom of the tank. The student must click the rod to drop the line in and pull it back up with which answer they feel is correct.Color:The game is in a brown tank filled with blue water and has white and yellow writing inside. Repetition: The routine of the game is constant, where after the rod is dropped in and pulled back up again, the correct answer will come up and the game will repeat itself.Talking Text: It has sound effects when the rod is dropped in the water, pulled out of the water, and when the correct/incorrect answer is given. Visual Cues: The floating word is separated from the other two words and is pink while the other two words at the top are in white, easy to distinguish from each other. When the mouse goes over the end of the rod, a purple circle pops up so the student knows where to drop the rod in the tank.Mistakes:At the end of the game, it shows the final score and will ask for them to try again.Rating: N/AHighlighted Cues: N/ANavigation Routine: It is the same thing repeating itself until the 8th turn.Click back and back: Because it comes up in a separate window, the child can click "Maggie's Earth Adventures" in order to go back.Click and drag:There is no clicking and dragging involed in this game, there is just clicking.Rating: 8
Katherine PicardeAssignment #3: EDC203 Wiki of Great Language Arts Sites
Site: Kids Know It.NetworkURL: http://www.kidsknowit.com/
Summary of Site: This site is a learning network for kids where they have an ample amount of educational games that are both helpful and fun for the student. Along with Language Arts, they include games and activities that incorporate geography, biology, chemistry, math, memory skill practices, etc. It also offers free online classes for kids. The founder of the KidsKnowIt Network explains it with, "Learning was meant to be both fun and free. Not boring, and definitely not expensive." Summary of Game: For primary Language Arts, I have chosen the game "Scramblers", where there is a 3-4 letter word that is scrambled in the box. By double-clicking the letters in the lower box, you much spell out and unscramble the chosen word in the given amount of time.Color: The color schemes in this game are appealing to children, where the backround is a bright yellow, and the game itself is blue, yellow and pink. The "scrambler" letters are all shades of brown. Repetition: The letters that are presented are repeated a number of times in order for the child to get a good chance at unscrambling the word. However, the pace of the repeated letters varies with each level. Talking Text: The letters make a sound effect every time one comes up, also on the main page, each game that is chosen has talking text which says the name of each game. Visual Cues: The letters appear each one by one, each popping up with a bug in front of it showing that there is a new letter. The student must double click each letter that they would like to put in order to unscramble. Mistakes: If the student has spelled the scrambled words wrong after submitting them into each box, at the end of the game, they encourage the child to try again by telling them they have done a good job, but have let the scramblers out. Rating: N/AHighlighted Cues: N/ANavigation Routine: There are instructions on how to play at the start of the game, and a "play" button next to that. Click back and back: N/AClick and drag: N/ARating: 7
Site: Funbrain.comURL: http://www.funbrain.com/grammar/index.html
Summary of Site: This site includes plenty of fun games for children, categorized by the Flash Arcades, Web Books and Comics, movies, and other activites. Summary of Game: The game I chose was Grammar Gorillas. where the student must identify which part of speech the underlined word is. The beginner level is only nouns and verbs, where the advanced level is all parts of speech. Also, there are definitions of all the parts of speech under the activity. Color: The only colors included in this game are the blue words and the red underlined words. Repetition: The same routine occurs everytime the student clicks the correct word. Talking Text: There is no talking text in this game. Visual Cues: The words that are choices for the verb/noun are bolded, red and underlined, where the rest of the words are blue. Mistakes: If the child clicks on the incorrect word, at the top of the page it will say "Sorry!" and explain why the answer was wrong and what the correct answer is.Rating: N/AHighlighted Cues: There are no highlighted cues. Navigation Routine: The only routine is to click the correct underlined word. Click back and back: If the child needs to go back, they can either click the back button, the start over button, or the funbrain feature. Click and drag: There is no dragging necessary.Rating: 8
Site: Scholastic.comURL:http://www.missmaggie.org/scholastic/fishemup2_eng_launcher.htmlSummary of Site: This is a great website with plenty of resources for students, teachers and parents. It also includes several lists of books categorized by their subject and grade-appropriate level, most of them with the choice of listening. Along with the reading choices and games, they also offer writer's workshop and fire safety programs. Summary of Game:In the fish tank, there are two fishing rods, along with two words, each with the ending of "ed". One of them is incorrect and the other is the correct answer which matches the floating word at the bottom of the tank. The student must click the rod to drop the line in and pull it back up with which answer they feel is correct.Color: The game is in a brown tank filled with blue water and has white and yellow writing inside. Repetition: The routine of the game is constant, where after the rod is dropped in and pulled back up again, the correct answer will come up and the game will repeat itself.Talking Text: It has sound effects when the rod is dropped in the water, pulled out of the water, and when the correct/incorrect answer is given. Visual Cues: The floating word is separated from the other two words and is pink while the other two words at the top are in white, easy to distinguish from each other. When the mouse goes over the end of the rod, a purple circle pops up so the student knows where to drop the rod in the tank.Mistakes: At the end of the game, it shows the final score and will ask for them to try again.Rating: N/AHighlighted Cues: N/ANavigation Routine: It is the same thing repeating itself until the 8th turn.Click back and back: Because it comes up in a separate window, the child can click "Maggie's Earth Adventures" in order to go back.Click and drag:There is no clicking and dragging involed in this game, there is just clicking.Rating: 8